


Out Like a Light

by dyingpoet



Series: peter parker deserves happiness [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, One Shot, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, endgame destroyed me emotionally so i pretend it never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 21:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18747523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyingpoet/pseuds/dyingpoet
Summary: Peter attempts to stay awake while riding the subway, it doesn't go well





	Out Like a Light

**Author's Note:**

> yo fuckin uhhhh im creating my own canon where angst is nonexistent sorry not sorry

It had been a really,  _ really _ long day. That was honestly the only thought Peter could coherently form as he stumbled into the subway car and collapsed into the nearest seat. The car was nearly empty, and if the three or so other people got off soon he might just scream into the empty air. 

He sighed as the lady sitting a few seats over got up and moved to the other side of the car. It stung a little, but he probably looked on the verge of breaking down. The suit was balled up in his bag, and he jostled it on his bag comfortingly; at least he’d taken it off, he didn’t need that sort of attention right now. 

Letting his eyes close, he leaned his head back and took a deep breath. Patrolling had sucked, more so than usual. It wasn’t even that the amount of muggings and drug deals and generally shitty things was high, it was more that he wasn’t really on the city’s good side for some reason. It happened, but it sucked regardless. 

He’d gotten nicked in the side when a guy pulled a knife on him in an alley after Peter send his dealer running. It healed fast but had started off the night pretty bad.

After that, Peter spent most of the night trying his best not to get stabbed again, which was strangely hard because for some reason he’d gotten like three more pulled on him. It might be a Friday night thing. 

Oh, and the cops were trying to put their foot down again. Three different times he’d been chased down after breaking up a robbery, once after he stopped a car jacker. 

So yeah, it sucked, and Peter just wanted to go home.

The speaker crackled from across the car, and despite his super hearing, Peter didn’t catch what was said. Everything sounded hazy and far away, and by some miracle of god the shitty seat he was in felt  _ comfortable _ .

“Next stop…”

Peter felt his head loll forward and he jerked it up, missing the name of the stop and getting frustrated even though he had the route memorized. God he felt like he could pass out right here. He’d changed into an old Mets hoodie that Uncle Ben gave him when he was younger. It was soft, and it smelled like their old apartment. 

It was a warm car considering it was winter, Peter thought, trying to focus his eyes lazily on the lights passing by in the car window and failed as they kept falling shut. Two of the other three people had left the car, and the last guy on there was looking to get off; he might just get in that scream after all. 

“Stand clear of the…”

Peter mumbled, “closing doors” to himself before yawning big and watching the final other passenger get off. It probably wasn’t too safe to nod off on the subway alone, but he  _ was _ Spiderman. If someone tried to rob him or something his Spidey sense would wake him up. Hopefully. He’d never actually tried that one before. 

And he hadn’t been sleeping all that much with finals coming up, so he could probably doze for a few stops and get off without a problem. No harm no fowl. He’d probably be better off after he woke up.

The train jerked forward again and he let his head fall forward, eyes shutting as he did. He’d be fine.

* * *

 

“Hey, kid.”

There was a hand roughly shaking his shoulder and Peter’s eyes snapped open as he jerked back, smacking his head on the window behind him. 

Tony Stark was standing in front of him with his hand making the shape of a gun. 

“Bang, bang,” he said, pointing his hand at Peter’s head and then chest, “and now you’re dead on the subway.”

Peter stared back at him with his mouth open for a beat and said nothing. His head still foggy from sleep and his neck killed. That’s what he got for falling asleep here. Also a shot to the head, apparently. 

“Mr. Stark? What are you-”

“Doing here?” Tony finished for him, choosing to stand in front of him despite the other open seats. “See Pete I don’t have to answer that question because I’m an  _ adult _ . So when it’s three in the morning I can be passed out on a train and don’t have to answer to anybody.”

Peter sat up a little straighter at the mention of the time and fought the urge to pull out his phone. There was a chance May hadn’t called him even though she was out of town for the weekend, and he prayed to god it worked out that way. 

Tony kept going, however. “You on the other hand, are a kid who isn’t even old enough to  _ drive _ yet, who knows that all of his stuff has tracking devices embedded inside-”

“Tracking devices?”

Snorting, Tony pulled out his phone from his pocket and scrolled for a moment before turning it Peter’s way. It was opened up to a screen with a map and a red and blue dot blinking on the screen next to a larger black dot. The red and blue was a nice touch, actually.

“Didn’t think I’d have to use it unless you were y’know, doing your  _ job _ , but here we are.”

The train pulled to a stop just then, and Peter tried to figure out where he was exactly before trying to explain himself.

Tony beat him to the punch.

“Brooklyn, you’ve been passed out for three hours.”

At that Peter raked a hand through his hair before looking up, a twinge of fear in his chest when he finally looked Tony in the eye because he was  _ pissed _ . 

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, I was only out patrolling until midnight,” he said, rushing to continue when Tony started to object to the time, “and I know that’s later than I’m supposed to be out, but I lost track of time and then got on the subway and I was so tired from being out and I just sort of passed out.”

Tony didn’t say anything to that, and, fidgeting a bit, Peter tried to say something to relieve a bit of the tension.

“And at least nothing happened, right? I’ve been out on the subway with friends this late before-”

“When was that?” Tony cut in, narrowing his eyes as Peter’s eyes widened.

“No! I mean like, with family, if I’m at a family party or something and I go back with adults and it’s totally safe and everything I swear.”

Tony clawed his hand and took a deep breath before tearing his eyes away from Peter to look around at the still barren train car. “Just--get up, we’re getting off here.”

Nodding, Peter felt the train begin to slow and stood up, trailing after Tony as he walked off the train. It was really late, and he wouldn’t say it to Mr. Stark but if he hadn’t found him, he probably would have slept through till morning.

But Tony didn’t say anything, just walked out of the station and onto the street while Peter yawned as quietly as possible from behind him. “Do you want me to call a cab?”

“I already called Happy.”

Peter nodded, standing and shifting on his feet when Tony sat down on a bench and stared at his phone for a few more seconds before putting it away and looking up at Peter.

“Do you know what happens to people-- _ kids _ on the subway alone at night?”

Playing with the straps of his bag, Peter nodded. “They get m-”

“They get  _ mugged _ ,” Tony snapped, “or stabbed, or whatever kinds of things you spent all night chasing after, and then they get killed.”

His voice was strained, and Peter felt a new wave of guilt wash over him. May had spent years lecturing him about going out alone at night too. “I know.”

“And I don’t know if you know this,” Tony continued, either choosing to ignore Peter or not hearing him at all, “but you  _ can _ die you know, being Spiderman doesn’t do anything when someone’s pulling a gun on you because you fell asleep alone on the subway in the middle of the night.”

Tony exhaled long and hard again, clawing his hands into the bench and Peter didn’t really know what his role was here. A silence stretched for a minute before he broke it.

“I’m sorry.”

Tony glanced up at him, features stony but softening the smallest bit if Peter was right, which he probably wasn’t, when they connected eyes. 

“I was stupid for being out late, I won’t do it again, and you should be mad because I’m stupid for not being careful in the first place-”

“ _ You’re _ not stupid, kid,” Tony said, voice light for the first time since he pretended to murder Peter on the train. “You  _ did _ a stupid, idiotic, dumbass thing thing, but you’re not stupid.”

Peter bit his lip and turned his head as he caught sight of Happy’s car turning the corner a block down. When he turned back to Tony he looked a bit more relaxed, fingers drumming against the arm of the bench and leg bouncing up and down, but he wasn’t about to kill Peter anymore. 

“Stupider than me, sure, but that bar is set pretty high.”

Cracking a smile, Peter moved back as Tony got up and walked to the curb, pushing Peter in front of him so he could get in the car first.

“You’re staying at the tower until May gets back, by the way, and I’m updating the tracker in your phone.”

He pushed Peter into the backseat and slammed the door just as Peter made a weak noise of protest. 

Ironically, he fell asleep on the way back, but woke up on the couch inside the tower the next morning, with a billionaire absolutely refusing to admit he’d carried him up. It was a strange life he led. 

**Author's Note:**

> ayyyy!!! sleepy kid!!! sucks at self preservation!!! hope yall enjoyed!!!!
> 
> p l e a s e leave kudos/comments below bc ya girl is exhausted and needs motivation :^)


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